`Flipkart's sales 80% higher than Amazon's

Bengaluru: Flipkart CEO Binny Bansal said the company's sales (or gross merchandize value of items sold on the platform) during the festive season was 70-80% higher than that of Amazon's and that it accomplished this at a third of the costs borne by the latter.

He attributed it to the company's focus on the right customer, local knowledge, and local innovation. “The wide lead established by Flipkart proves that a home grown Indian company can successfully fend off a 22-year global behemoth pouring in money to buy marketshare,“ he said.

Bansal told TOI that his figures are based on data from brands and vendors selling on the competing platforms, from logistics companies, information from marketing consultancy RedSeer, and online traffic data. Asked for its reaction to Bansal's estimates, Amazon sent the following statement: “We do not comment on speculation or rumours nor comment on any sales or revenue numbers.As a customer-focused company, we do not comment on competition, nor believe anyone externally can offer a credible comment on Amazon's internal sales numbers or any other data not in public domain.“

It has been reported previously that Flipkart beat Amazon in sales this season, but the extent of the difference between the two has been unclear.